Alexa Arrives On Amazon's First-Gen Fire TV

Owners of the first generation of the Amazon Fire TV are in for some good news: Amazon is bringing its Alexa digital assistant to the set-top box with a new firmware update rolling out over the next few weeks. First-gen Fire TV users may have been feeling out of the loop lately, with Amazon focusing on the new 4K model, not mention Alexa already being brought the second-gen Fire TV last fall. Fortunately the voice-based assistant is also coming to the original Fire TV Stick as well.

The update comes in the form of Fire OS 5.0.5, and while it see release starting today, there's no way for users to manually trigger the update themselves, so they may need to hold tight for a while. Once installed, their Fire TV will be running Android 5.1 Lollipop, and its existing voice search functions will be enhanced with Alexa.

The Fire TV won't be able to handle everything Amazon's Echo speaker can, but it will answer users' questions about the weather, traffic, and sports scores, not to mention music and audiobooks. More advanced tasks include conducting local searches, re-ordering recent Amazon purchases, and limited control over home automation devices.

Aside from Alexa, the update will allow Fire TV Stick users to have the option of listening to audio over Bluetooth headphones. Amazon's software update website hasn't posted any information about the update yet, but full details are expected to be shared soon.

SOURCE AFTV News